The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless reported a 4.5 percent increase in the number of unhoused individuals in the city in 2023, totaling 68,440. Not all these persons are street-bound, some live in shelters or squat or couch surf, but they all live with uncertainty, fear of violence and worries about any kind of future. Unsheltered individuals lack mental health and medical care, access to washing machines and showers, healthy meals and often, even water. They are constantly under threat of physical abuse from hostile elements in the surrounding area. They are shamed and degraded by the rest of society, which makes it even more challenging to change the course of their lives. Making it out of homelessness to safe, permanent housing and a greater degree of self-sufficiency becomes more difficult the longer the situation continues. Providing shelter, social services and other assistance to those facing homelessness makes the likelihood of them moving forward far more likely. This is the goal we embrace at Lincoln Park Community Services, to move as many homeless persons to permanent housing with hope for the future. Winter: As temperatures drop, homeless individuals face an array of challenges. Those living outside can experience real threats from frostbite and hypothermia. Solutions to keeping warm such as propane heaters can cause fires and carbon monoxide poisoning, while burning other items such as tires and treated woods can emit toxic fumes. Those with preexisting conditions, including respiratory and cardiac ailments, are more at risk for illness in colder months and without proper housing and medical attention, their health deteriorates. Many unsheltered individuals don’t have access to clean water or electricity, which also exacerbates health conditions. Day-to-day living becomes harder. The need to hold on to vital items like blankets and coats becomes burdensome as people attempt to move from place to place. For those with jobs, the challenge of getting to work clean while also maintaining their possessions can become all-consuming and often, impossible. Spring: Many would assume that warmer temperatures and more sunlight would make life easier for unhoused individuals, but that is often not the case. Improved weather brings more people outside, but it also increases the visibility of homeless persons and exposes them to more harassment and ridicule. Plus, with more people outside enjoying recreational activities, the stark representation of the difference in lifestyles often leads to depression and hopelessness in those who do not have permanent housing. These warmer months also bring dangerous weather, including thunderstorms and in Chicago, accompanying flooding, which displaces many living in encampments. Additionally, the general public often assumes that things are easier for those facing homelessness in the Spring, so their volunteering and donating efforts drop off from earlier in the year. With fewer resources, organizations that help the unsheltered struggle to continue their work. Summer: Hot weather brings with it a whole new set of challenges for the unhoused. Extreme temperatures can cause heat stroke and fatigue, while prolonged periods of extreme heat can affect emotions and physiology to the point that coping with any challenges at all becomes nearly impossible. Rising temperatures in cities like Chicago are exacerbated for those living outside by the heat-absorbing nature of concrete and asphalt. Higher temperatures bring the increased threat of dehydration as the unhoused frequently do not have access to drinking water. Dehydration can lead to myriad psychological and physiological issues that can be dangerous and even fatal. Further, the desire to beat the heat can lead to potentially dangerous behaviors such as swimming in polluted or dangerous waters, trespassing into cooler areas or increasing substance abuse to cope. Fall: In Chicago, the Fall usually brings a respite from continued high temperatures and storms, making it the easiest time of year to live outside. But is there ever a good time to be without permanent shelter? Street-bound individuals are 10 times more likely to experience violence than the rest of the population and on average, die 12 years earlier than their permanently housed counterparts due to lack of nutrition, medical and psychological care. Hygiene is an ongoing issue for the unhoused, who are frequently forced to live without running water or electricity. This makes it difficult for them to interact with the rest of society as those who are perceived as unclean are stigmatized. Further, with no permanent address and for some, no government-issued identification, applications for jobs, housing and assistance become nearly impossible. Of course, Chicago autumn is defined by unpredictable weather. Extreme temperatures at both ends of the spectrum are all too common here in September, October and November, which leaves those with no place to live extremely vulnerable. How to Help: Our website, lpcschicago.org, has volunteer and giving opportunities. We appreciate our very generous supporters and all the work they do. We couldn’t help without them.

Since the 2008 economic meltdown, the unhoused population has aged. While the majority of those experiencing homelessness are, according to the 2023 Chicago Point-In-Time count (which counts all unsheltered individuals on a cold night in January) between 35 and 44, the number of homeless over the age of 50 has expanded dramatically. Before the Great Recession, approximately 10 percent of the nation’s homeless population was over 50. Today, that group comprises nearly half of all unhoused individuals in the country. Interestingly, the overall age of the homeless population in Chicago has actually gone down with the recent migrant influx, as the majority in that group are under 40. The elderly homeless in Chicago are homegrown. The population of homeless individuals who are 65 or older is predicted to more than double by 2030. The older, unsheltered portion of the nation’s population fall into two categories: Those who have experienced homelessness previously and those who are facing this for the first time in old age, often due to critical life changes that including losing a spouse or family member who provided support. Further, the increased price of rent all over the nation has led those on fixed incomes to be priced out of markets where they had lived for decades. For example, the average Social Security benefit (90 percent of adults over 65 receive a such a benefit) is approximately $1.826. Nationwide, the median price of an apartment stands at $1,981 per month. The numbers are higher in major, metropolitan areas. According to Zillow and other sources, the median price of a rental unit in Chicago is $1,926. Unsurprisingly, homelessness speeds up the aging process for those experiencing it. Without proper physical and mental health support those facing the challenges of finding places to sleep and shelter begin to break down earlier. These older unhoused individuals are more likely to have mobility and memory challenges that make it difficult for them to reside in standard homeless shelters that include shared bathroom, bunk beds, physical chores and little accommodation for canes, walkers or other necessary equipment.  Once these unsheltered persons have been homeless at an older age, they are likely no longer to be able to find or maintain employment with the many physical and mental challenges they face. Consequently, social service agencies, governments and non-profit organizations that support the elderly, are going to have to find the funds and the resources to meet the needs of this particular group that has fallen through the social safety net. Their route to securing long-term housing and maintaining that housing is very different than that of the younger population, their needs are different and their futures are different.  Unfortunately, we are already behind.